{
  "id": 4104849,
  "title": "Ecuador ex-president sentenced to 5 years for corruption",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/29/ecuador-ex-president-sentenced-to-5-years-for-corruption",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-29T04:05:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/world/americas/ecuador-ex-president-sentenced-to-5-years-for-corruption-1.500656047"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ecuador's former president, Lenin Moreno, has been sentenced to five years in prison for accepting bribes from a Chinese company involved in the construction of the country's largest hydroelectric dam. Moreno, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, was one of 20 individuals convicted in the corruption case related to the Coca Codo Sinclair dam, built by Sinohydro, a subsidiary of China's Sinongold.\n\nMoreno, who was vice-president under former president Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2013, served as Correa's successor but later distanced himself from his mentor, shifting to the right and aligning more closely with the United States. The court's ruling also saw Moreno's wife and other relatives sentenced to nearly three years in prison for complicity.\n\nThe prosecution had sought a six-and-a-half-year prison term for Moreno, but he denied receiving any money from Sinohydro, blaming the case on the Correa regime and alleging that his former supporter-turned-rival promised to take revenge. Sinohydro is alleged to have paid bribes totaling $76 million, which constituted around four percent of the hydroelectric project's cost. Moreno was joined in the conviction by two former managers of the power plant.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Former Ecuador president Lenin Moreno sentenced to 5 years for corruption.",
    "Moreno accepted bribes from Chinese company Sinohydro for Coca Codo Sinclair dam.",
    "Moreno's wife and relatives sentenced for complicity in bribery case."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}